IMR Press / RCM / Volume 23 / Issue 9 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm2309292
Open Access Original Research
Longer Hospitalizations and Higher In-Hospital Mortality for Acute Heart Failure during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Larger vs. Smaller Cardiology Departments: Subanalysis of the COV-HF-SIRIO 6 Multicenter Study
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1 Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 85-094 Bydgoszcz, Poland
2 Department of Cardiology, Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski Ministry of Interior and Administration Hospital, 15-471 Białystok, Poland
3 Department of Cardiology, Chair of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, 92-213 Łódź, Poland
4 Department of Cardiology, Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 35-111 Rzeszów, Poland
5 1st Department of Cardiology, Collegium Medicum, Jan Kochanowski University, 25-736 Kielce, Poland
6 Department of Cardiology and Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, University of Warmia and Mazury, 11-041 Olsztyn, Poland
7 Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, 10th Military Hospital and Polyclinic, 85-681 Bydgoszcz, Poland
8 Department of Cardiology Independent Public Healthcare in Przeworsk, 37-200 Przeworsk, Poland
9 Institute of Humanities and Medicine, Academy of Zamosc, 22-400 Zamość, Poland
10 Cardiology Department, Medical Care Center, 37-500 Jaroslaw, Poland
11 Department of Cardiology and Internal Diseases, Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, 81-519 Gdynia, Poland
12 Department of Cardiology, Tertiary Care Hospital, 06-400 Ciechanów, Poland
13 Department of Cardiology, Masovian Rehabilitation Center “STOCER”, Dr Włodzimierz Roefler Hospital, 05-800 Pruszków, Poland
14 Department of Cardiology, District Hospital, 89-500 Tuchola, Poland
15 Department of Cardiology, Dr. Emil Warmiński Tertiary Care Municipal Hospital, 85-808 Bydgoszcz, Poland
16 Department of Invasive Cardiology, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland
17 Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
18 Department of Cardiology, Polish Hospitals, 47-200 Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Poland
19 Department of Cardiology and Intensive Cardiac Care Unit, District Polyclinic Hospital, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
20 Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Białystok, 15-276 Białystok, Poland
21 Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Intensive Care, Tertiary Care Municipal Hospital, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
22 Cardiology Subdivision of Heart Failure. St. Elizabeth Hospital, 48-210 Biała, Poland
23 Department of Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and Electrophysiology with Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Tertiary Care Hospital, 86-300 Grudziądz, Poland
24 1st Department of Physiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Opole 2, Cardiology Center of Kluczbork SCANMED SA, 46-203 Kluczbork, Poland
25 Department of Cardiology, Polish Hospitals, 82-400 Sztum, Poland
26 2nd Department of Cardiology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, 30-688 Cracow, Poland
27 Department of Cardiology, Center of Postgraduate Medical Education, Grochowski Hospital, 04-073 Warsaw, Poland
28 Department of Kinesiology and Health Prevention, Jan Dlugosz University in Częstochowa, 42-200 Częstochowa, Poland
29 Gajda-Med District Hospital in Pultusk, 06-100 Pułtusk, Poland
30 3rd Department of Cardiology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, Faculty of Medicine in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland
31 1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland
32 Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatric Cardiology, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, 00-416 Warsaw, Poland
33 Department of Interventional Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, John Paul II Hospital in Krakow, 31-202 Cracow, Poland
34 Department of Cardiology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 61-848 Poznań, Poland
35 Department of Heart Failure and Transplantology, National Institute of Cardiology, 04-628 Warsaw, Poland
36 Department of Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure, Institute of Cardiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-202 Cracow, Poland
37 Department of Arterial Hypertension and Diabetology, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland
38 Department of Cardiology, Pomeranian Medical University, 71-899 Szczecin, Poland
*Correspondence: m.ostrowska@cm.umk.pl (Małgorzata Ostrowska)
Academic Editor: Alpo Vuorio
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2022, 23(9), 292; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2309292
Submitted: 12 June 2022 | Revised: 27 July 2022 | Accepted: 4 August 2022 | Published: 24 August 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cardiovascular Health and COVID-19)
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is surging across Poland, leading to many direct deaths and underestimated collateral damage. We aimed to compare the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions and in-hospital mortality in larger vs. smaller cardiology departments (i.e., with 2000 vs. <2000 hospitalizations per year in 2019). Methods: We performed a subanalysis of the COV-HF-SIRIO 6 multicenter retrospective study including all patients hospitalized in 24 cardiology departments in Poland between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020, focusing on patients with acute heart failure (AHF) and COVID-19. Results: Total number of hospitalizations was reduced by 29.2% in larger cardiology departments and by 27.3% in smaller cardiology departments in 2020 vs. 2019. While hospitalizations for AHF were reduced by 21.8% and 25.1%, respectively. The length of hospital stay due to AHF in 2020 was 9.6 days in larger cardiology departments and 6.6 days in smaller departments (p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality for AHF during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly higher in larger vs. smaller cardiology departments (10.7% vs. 3.2%; p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality for concomitant AHF and COVID-19 was extremely high in larger and smaller cardiology departments accounting for 31.3% vs. 31.6%, respectively. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic longer hospitalizations and higher in-hospital mortality for AHF were observed in larger vs. smaller cardiology departments. Reduced hospital admissions and extremely high in-hospital mortality for concomitant AHF and COVID-19 were noted regardless of department size.

Keywords
acute heart failure
COVID-19
hospitalization
in-hospital mortality
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